OK, maybe I won’t be quiet.
I can not understand the posts denigrating anyone that needs to pick up a Q8 in their hands, wanting light, and gets caught in a button push hell. Any random person needs to be able to use the Q8 without a manual (as in using a candle or match to read the instructions for operating the flashlight). Yes there are many esoteric functions, but who the hell cares when the power is out and you have no light source.
The Q8 is a great (apparently an almost erotic device for many members) flashlight. As I mentioned somewhere - it is the light I wanted; no matter what you think! It does what I want. And insulting posts about me getting a $3 light is petty and quite annoying. You are nowhere near as clever as you think.
Everyone sending my views to purgatory, and ridicule them on the way down, have a very limited and shallow understanding of Human Behavior. But they are persistent.
Pretty much all of the negative responses to my thoughts have involved - If they just RTFM, and trained, and acquired long term memory (potentially years), and were provided with a training program that included monthly emergency exercises for random neighbors and passer-bys, with training on the light, then it is one hell of an emergency light source. NO - it is a flashlight!!
The vitriol is predominantly directed to people too stupid to use the light (that includes me); these users are clearly sub-human. And perhaps should be required to get a flashlight operating license.
To everyone saying they have all these Q8 users that had no problem; Yeah, but I had a 4 out of 4 failure (including me). Work the statistics. Review your conditions. Many may dismiss (well more that just dismiss) this issue.
Regardless of your (mostly) individual opinion; this light is NOT intuitive NOR is it configured to allow a wandering stranger to pick it up and find that it is a intuitive flashlight. Or understanding what is happening.When your house has collapsed from an earthquake (mud slide, etc) wandering strangers have some potential of being useful. As do the owners of the house.
I (after considerable initial research) bought (ordered) these as emergency lighting. That includes adding a satisfactory diffuser for long term emergency room lighting. We have rather a lot of power outages.
The part consistently disregarded by some forum members, is that my targeted use is EMERGENCY. I get that this is not necessarily the project objective; perhaps the hive mind who will think that “who, there is a flashlight, I am saved” is the most important customer base. But there should still be room for a household, with neighbors, to allow people to pick up the light and not get surprised by unexpected results from pushing the button that they can not resolve.
This light is available on the open market. At a good price point. Any purchaser, other than one of us, may foolishly believe it is just a flashlight. There are probably more of them out there than there are of us. At least if the manufacturer is able to sell any quantity of the Q8s. Get out of the restricted view of a bunch of flashlight fanatics and think about all the rest of the human race.
Let us assume for the moment, that this is an emergency light. In an emergency, many possible people will pick up the light and try to use it. This can not be pre-trained. This could be an automobile accident (particularly a passenger), forest fire, earthquake, etc. We have them all.
If someone picking up the Q8 gets into a confusing mode because they believed it is a regular old flashlight; and could not see how to get out of that mode. That is just not acceptable.
I suggest again; there needs to be a mode that just gives basic alternatives with minimal confusion (learning curve). There would need a way into the full native Q8 interface.